1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connection box containing bus bars, suitable for use, for example, in vehicles, such as automobiles. The invention also relates to a method of making such a box.
2. Description of Related Art
An electrical connection box described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,280, corresponding to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-135717, is a branched connection box, having an upper case part and a lower case part that are connected to each other, and a plurality of parallel vertical bus bars accommodated in the cases. These vertical bus bars are equipped with a plurality of terminals (tab terminals) projecting upwardly and downwardly in the box. The tab terminals project through the case into connector-receiving recesses provided on each case part, for connection with the terminals of connectors to be fitted to the box.
When using such electrical connection boxes for different vehicle types, circuit connections of the bus bars are required to be varied according to the respective circuit arrangements of the vehicles.
However, when making the bus bar connections in this type of boxes, the wires have to be connected to the respective tab terminals projecting from the terminal holes of the connectors. For this reason, there is a necessity to fix to the tip of the wire a connection terminal that can be engaged with the tab terminal. This requires complicated work in connection of the wires, and uses a large number of parts.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electric connection box having bus bars, which allows easy adaptation and choice of the bus bar circuit connections.
According to the invention, there is provided an electrical connection box having connectable upper and lower casing parts defining an interior space when connected. A plurality of bus bars are arranged within the interior space in a side-by-side array with respective main body portions of a sheet form arranged vertically and parallel to each other. The upper casing part has connector regions to receive exterior connector members in use. Each bus bar has a plurality of tab terminals projecting upwardly away from the bus bar main body portion on the upper side thereof and protruding into the connector regions. At least one pressure contact blade projects downwardly from the bus bar main body portion for making pressure contact with an electrical wire.
Preferably, the respective pressure contact blades of the bus bars are arranged in at least one row orthogonal to the direction of the bus bar main body portions, so that in use an electrical wire making contact with the pressure contact blades can extend linearly in the orthogonal direction.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method of making an electrical connection box, including the steps of:
providing connectable upper and lower casing parts defining when connected an interior space, the upper casing part having connector regions to receive exterior connector members in use,
inserting into respective predetermined holding locations of one of the casing parts a plurality of bus bars which each have a main body portion of sheet form, the main body portions being arranged vertically and parallel to each other in their inserted locations, the bus bars each having a plurality of tab terminals on the upper side of the bus bar main body portion which protrude into the connector regions in the inserted locations of the bus bars and at least one pressure contact blade projecting downwardly from the bus bar main body portion,
before or after the inserting step, establishing electrical connections between the bus bars in a predetermined manner by electrical wires making pressure contact with the pressure contact blades, and
connecting the upper and lower casing parts together so as to secure the bus bars and wires in the interior space.
In this specification, including the claims, the directional terms xe2x80x9cupperxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9clowerxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cverticallyxe2x80x9d etc. are used relatively to each other for convenience of explanation and definition and refer to the orientations shown in the figures. However, the connection box of the invention can be assembled and used in any orientation appropriate to a particular assembly process or use.